This past week, I’ve covered three local stories for the Norfolk Daily News — two of them will be for a special Living Rural section at the end of the month. Next week, I’ll be covering a fourth human interest piece for the paper, too, and I have three more stories lined up to do for them after that.
I’m able, and happy, to do these stories because I finished and sent off the full draft of novel number six to some beta readers a week ago, and I’m not looking at the book again until the end of the month or even until mid-September.
If any of you would care to read the draft and provide some feedback, let me know. I’ll take all the insights I can get. Leave a comment here with your email or contact me via my website at tammymarshallauthor.wordpress.com
After a while, I lose perspective and objectivity about a novel that I’m writing, so I have to step away from it for a while, and then when I get back to it, I can see it through fresh eyes as well as through the comments and suggestions provided by my readers.
Stepping away from the world of fiction to cover real-life stories is a great way to hone other aspects of my writing while also gaining insights into the way other people live and see the world. I also get to take and contribute photographs with my news stories, so that feeds into another thing that has always interested me — capturing the right photo to enhance the story I’m telling.
A definite perk to writing the news stories is that the newspaper will pay me for them and for the photographs. Writing novels is my passion, but sometimes passion doesn’t pay the bills.
For example, I traveled over two hours last Saturday to speak at a library, but only two people attended the event. I did sell a few books, and the librarian was kind enough to give me some gas money, so it wasn’t a complete financial bust, but it was a bit of a bummer. Part of the reason was that the librarian didn’t realize she’d scheduled my appearance right in the middle of their county fair! And, of course, part of the reason is that I’m not a known name, and I know that, so it’s to be expected that not every event I do will draw people. Another reason is that it’s summertime, and my appearance was on a weekend when people are simply busy, busy, busy.
However, I made great connections with the librarian and with the two ladies who did attend, and you never know where those connections might take me.
Last week, I told you that the Norfolk Arts Center was going to feature me in their August newsletter, and I shared with you the questions they asked as well as my answers. That newsletter is out, and I am in it. I haven’t received my physical copy yet, but I did get the email one.
Here’s proof — a screenshot from my laptop, but it only shows the part they took from my website; my answers to their questions are further down.
I’m honored to be the Norfolk Arts Center’s literary artist (unfortunately, there is a misspelling on their end that I can’t correct).
Since I’ve been very busy covering stories for the Norfolk Daily News, and because my current novel is now being read by my beta readers, I don’t have anything new to share with you this week — I’d like to share the stories I wrote for the Norfolk paper, but they will have to appear in the paper first.
If I were still a teacher, this would have been my last free week before returning to school. I can’t even convey how happy I am that I’m not returning to school next week and don’t have to put up with all the crap that teachers now get thrown at them.
Sadly, this cartoon nailed it.
Mostly, though, I left teaching to write, so I am absolutely thrilled that I was asked to do those news stories as well as the upcoming ones.
But, in honor of those teachers who are returning to the classroom, I’m going to share a silly sonnet I wrote years ago as part of a stand-up comedy routine about teaching.
It’s an homage to Shakespeare’s most famous sonnet with nothing of Shakespeare’s amazing flair.
School Days
Shall I compare them to a summer’s day? Ha! There's simply no way. A summer's day has light and peace and joy; A school day, though it tries to be coy, Cannot hide its true persona Of stress, strife, agony -- it's no Nirvana. Homework -- aagh! Tests -- aack! Lectures -- geez! Summertime, come rescue me, please. Better yet, just don't end. Off to school do not me send. It's my own fault, this I know. All those years at a desk made me loco. Now I'm the teacher at the head of the class With pupils who are a real pain in the ass.
When I finish and publish this sixth novel, I plan to return to a story collection about the people who populate a fictional comedy club in Lincoln. I shared the first two stories of that here over a year ago, and I started writing the stories many years ago. They are calling to me, so I need to get back to them next.
I will be doing stand-up comedy in early January at a women’s wellness retreat, so I also need to start preparing for that because it will be the longest set I’ve ever done. Expect to see some of that content here down the road if you’re a paying subscriber.
If you’re not yet a paying subscriber, consider becoming one to have access to all my past posts as well as to content that is reserved only for paying subscribers.
Until next week.
Tammy Marshall
I was a proofreader/editorial assistant for several "scholarly" journals when I worked at University of Tennessee. (We met when you sat next to me at Nevermore in Bristol, Virginia.)